The invention disclosed and claimed herein is generally directed to means provided in an upper garment for conveniently storing a companion lower garment. More particularly, the invention pertains to storage means of such type which minimizes interference with a wearer of the upper garment, and permits the wearer to quickly and easily access the lower garment from storage while the upper garment is being worn.
A wide variety of outdoor clothing is currently sold in the form of matched or companion jacket and panes sets. Some common examples of such clothing, which are by no means intended to be inclusive, are rain gear for hunters, fisherman, and boaters, and warm-up suits for joggers. Spectators and participants in outdoor sports events also find this type of clothing to be very useful.
Notwithstanding the wide diversity found in matched set clothing of the above type, with regards to use, style and material, wearers thereof frequently encounter a common problem. Specifically, conditions of use can vary substantially over the course of a single period of activity. If so, wearers of such clothing will likely want to wear both the jacket and the pants during a portion of the activity period, but the jacket only during another portion thereof. For example, a jogger may start out wearing both a warm-up jacket and pants, However, after a time of vigorous exercise, he or she may wish to remove the pants and wear the jacket only, but be at a location remote from his or her intended end point. The jogger will then be required to carry the pants in some manner, which may impede or interfere with further physical activity.
A further illustration of this problem relates to rain gear, such as may be worn by a hunter, fisherman or boating enthusiast. A period of activity may begin under circumstances which make it comfortable to wear a rain jacket, but not companion rain pants. At the same time, conditions may suggest the possibility of rain or the like before the period of activity concludes. Accordingly, the user would want to make sure that the rain pants were continually available. Moreover, if there was, for example, the prospect of a severe rain storm developing suddenly, the user would want to access the rain pants very quickly, and without any need to remove the protective rain jacket. In some situations, it would be important not only to access the rain pants very quickly, but to do so with only one hand. This requirement could be very important, for example, for one operating a power boat, who needed to have one hand continually available for boat control, while accessing the rain pants for use.
The prior art shows various pocket and pouch arrangements formed in jackets or other upper body garments. Some of such arrangements simply do not anticipate providing enough storage capacity for an object on the size of pants or the like. Other arrangements would not accommodate a pair of pants, unless the pants were bunched or compacted into a tight ball. The resulting bulkiness and concentration of weight could interfere with activities of the type described above, or could cause discomfort to the wearer. Moreover, the pants would be subjected to unnecessary stress and wear, whenever forced into the pocket or pouch. In any event, none of such prior art arrangements appear to meet all the requirements set forth above, particularly the requirements pertaining to ease and convenience in both storing and removing a lower body garment from a storage position integral to an associated upper body garment.